The Puffy Tailed Sword Hero
by Bryanicus
Summary: The legendary sword chose a hero from it's world. Her relentless determination driving her forward, she sets out to save her best friend and battle the waves.
1. Chapter 1

How long have we been down here? I want to go home. I want to leave this terrible place.

My ears twitch as I here coughing

Rifana's coughing snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Raphtalia… I want to see the flag in our village again."

Rifana has gotten sick. I want to help her as much as I can but there isn't much I can do here. However, I did make something for her. I reach down into the little bit of straw and pull out a little flag.

"I wish I could do more for you."

"It's plenty, thank you Raphtalia" Rifana says as her eyes tear up.

Suddenly a strange circle of light forms around me.

"What's going on!?" I feel like the floor is falling away from beneath me.

"Rifana, help me!"

I fall into a tunnel of light. I'm scared. I want to help Rifana. What's happening?

I kept falling until I found myself on the floor of a room with 3 other people.

"Oh, great heroes, will you please save our world?" I hear an unfamiliar voice speak.

I look towards the voice to see a man who looks like a priest. I also noticed that my clothes are different. Instead of those old rags now I have on simple red and black dress and brown boots. Then I notice in my hand is a black and gold sword with a blue gem set in the hilt.

Wait, am I a hero!?

I look to my either side of me to get a better look at the other people. They were all wearing strange clothes. I've never seen anything quite like what they're wearing. They all had , spear, and shield. Then, something dawned on me. I'm in the same room as the shield hero.

The man with the spear points his spear at the man and speaks up "I hope you'll be compensating us for summoning us against our will."

"Yeah, we need compensation for bringing us here." The man with a bow adds

"Of course, brave heroes, we already have an audience ready with the king, you will certainly be well compensated." the priest answers nervously.

The man with the shield seems to be pretty confused on why they are acting that way. This isn't how the heroes are supposed to be. The only one who is being nice is the one with the shield.

"Please follow me to the throne room." The priest says.

I stand up and get ready to follow him. As I do so, I try to put the sword on my back and it stays there. I remembered hearing stories where the heroes weapons could stick to any part of them. It seems so far that I really am the sword hero.

As we were walking, I noticed the other heroes giving me strange looks. Is it because of my age. It might be because they are from worlds where they don't have demi-humans. In either case I can't help but feel out of place. The guards all seemed confused by me as well. Their expressions all mixtures of confusion and disgust. I tried my best not to stare and kept my head down

We enter the throne room. The king is the same one I've heard of. He asks for us to give him our names our age and our occupation. I can't help but feel scared by everything. I feel myself trembling a little. The shield hero notices it and pats me on the head. I instinctively flinched at first but it he didn't plan on hurting me. He's the shield hero, Mother and Father always told me the stories of how the shield hero was good to demi-humans.

The king started with the bow hero. His name is Itsuki Kawasumi. He is 17 years old and is a high school student.

Next was the spear hero. His name is Motoyasu Kitamura. He is 21 years old and is a college student.

Then the king called on me. "My name is Raphtalia." I answered nervously "I'm 10 years old and I don't really have an occupation."

I noticed the king was not really paying attention to me when I was speaking.

The shield hero was last his name is Naofumi Iwatani. He is 20 years old and also a college student.

The king was giving Naofumi the same indifference he did with me.

"My Name is Aultcray Melromarc XXXII all 4 of you were summoned to fight the catastrophe that looms over our world. We have rooms prepared for you so please use the rest of the day to get to know each other and rest for tomorrow."

"Let's all form a party." said the bow hero

"That won't be possible, the legends say that the weapons actively interfere with each other's development. You will all need to train separately. We have gathered some of the finest warriors from all over the kingdom. We will assign your parties tomorrow." the king responds.

He also gives a little explanation of status magic for the other heroes. It kinda made me feel like an expert knowing I lived with it my whole life.

We are led by one of the servants to a large suite. Inside is a common area with a couple of doors for bedrooms to the sides.

I quickly make myself comfortable on the sofa in the center of the room. It's so cozy. I've not felt something like this in a long time.

The other heroes make their way into the room and make themselves comfortable.

"We really are in another world." said Naofumi.

"Yeah, this world is so similar to an MMO I played called Emerald Online." said motoyasu

I've never heard of an MMO their speech left me completely lost.. I lived here my whole life but the heroes are supposed to be from another world but I'm from this one.

"What do you mean? It's like a console game called dimension wave." said itsuki

"I've never heard of either of those what are they?" said Naofumi

"What are you talking about? What do you mean by game?" I spoke up

The other 3 heroes look at me confused. I feel a little ashamed.

"This is the world I've always lived in."

"Raphtalia you said your name was correct..." said itsuki.

I gave him a little nod.

"Well it would make sense that you were from this world. There was never anyone like you in any of our worlds." he continued.

Then Motoyas walked up to me and said, "I haven't gotten the chance to properly introduce myself. I am Motoyasu Kitamura It's nice to meet you. You're really cute."

I felt myself blush a little at his complement.

"I kinda feel a little out of place the shield not being a weapon and all" said Naofumi.

"I have some bad news for you, the shield is by far the worst weapon." said Motoyasu

Then Naofumi looked to Itsuki waiting for his input.

"Sory the shield is a bad weapon. No one ever uses it" said Itsuki

"Um… from the stories of the previous heroes I've heard the shield hero was always just as powerful as the other heroes." I said.

They all once again stopped and looked at me. Did I say something bad?

"The shield hero just needs friends so they can get stronger but when they do they are really strong." I add.

"He was also always really good to demi-humans too."

I then remember about my status magic. I open it up to see if it was changed. There is a new menu one with a sword tree of all the weapons I have. Right now all I have is the basic sword. There was also a help menu for it and I started reading the stuff that was in that. Apparently I can copy existing weapons of the same type. I can also build up weapon proficiency which makes it stronger the more I use it.

"We should all probably get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us from the sound of it." said Motoyasu, cutting of my train of thought.

The other heroes seemed to be in agreement on that and I didn't have much room to argue so I left into my room for the night. The bed was so comfortable. One million times better than the cold stone floor. I felt my tail wagging as Iied down on my belly hugging one of the pillows. I only wish Rifana could be here with me… I felt a wave a determination wash over me as I realized I'm a hero now. I can save Rifana and all of the slaves. I just need to get stronger first.

I quickly felt myself falling asleep. I guess I was more tired than I thought.

I was standing at the cliff the monsters were surrounding us. Just as a dog with 3 heads approaches my parents apologised and pushed me off. As I'm falling I can see the dog leap at them. Then I see Rifana. She is strung up and being beaten by that horrible man. But, I have the legendary sword in my hands. I raise my sword in my trembling hands. Then he turns to me and swings the whip at me. Before it hits me I am jolted awake.

Naofumi was sitting on the bed. He was holding me up and is running his fingers through my hair and holding me close. Standing around me were the other 2 heroes. I felt tears on my face. Realizing I'm awake, Naofumi spoke.

"We heard you crying so we came running. Is everything alright?"

The situation was a little embarrassing I felt a warm blush come over my cheeks. I'm with all the heroes, I'm safe.

"You were saying something about your parents, then you were saying Rifana. what happened?" said Itsuki

It's not something I would like to remember. But these people are the legendary heroes. They might understand.

"My mother and father were killed in the first wave that hit this world and... Rifana was my friend she was taken away after the wave by bad men."

Should I tell them that I was a slave? Tell them what happened to me and Rifana? Maybe I should. Actually is the slave crest even still there. I quickly pull back part of my dress to check and it's gone well mostly there is a faded mark of where it once was, but it's really hard to see. It would probably be for the best to tell them now.

"The bad men took me too. Then they sold me."

They all seemed a little shocked by what I just said.

"My first couple owners weren't that bad. The wanted me to be a servant and taught me things. But after the first night they both sold me back… the last one was the worst. He took me and hung me up from the ceiling then beat me with a whip. Rifana was there too." Tears started welling up in my eyes again. "He would whip us until we were bloody. Then he would still keep going. Then Rifana had gotten sick. I was taking care of her when I was summoned."

All of the other Heroes had looks of disgust on there faces but I could tell it wasn't directed at me.

"We should all get back to bed. It's still dark out." said Motoyasu.

"Yeah, let's go." said itsuki.

They both left the room and Naofumi started to stand up. I didn't want him to leave me I wanted him to keep holding me. Before he got too far I reached out and grabbed his shirt.

"Can you please stay with me?" I ask sheepishly.

"Alright, if that's what you want." he responds awkwardly.

Out of all the heroes he seems like the nicest. He would never do anything to hurt me. He's the shield hero after all.

We both lie down on the bed and he once again holds me close. His warm embrace quickly lulling me back into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

I awoke the next morning to the sunlight pouring through the window. It felt warm on my skin. It has been too long since I've woken up in this comfort. I do feel a little light headed but it's probably nothing. Naofumi seemed to also start to wake up. I wiggle my way out of his hold and he opens his eyes.

"It's morning?"

I couldn't help but give a little smile at his question. I give him a nod to give him confirmation. Then I hop out of bed. I notice a standing mirror is also in the room.

I haven't been able to see what I look like in some time. I probably look terrible. Looking in the mirror I spot several problems right away. My hair is getting quite long and messy. I should probably have it cut at some point. Overall, I look like a bit of a mess. I could definitely use a bath. I can also tell I lost a lot of weight. I hope it doesn't affect my growth while I'm leveling up. Then I pull back one of my sleeves. I have a few scars from where the whip struck me. I probably have a lot more on my body, but I don't want to check with a man in the room. I hope they fade. I've always wanted to look pretty but I never was quite happy with how I looked. But I should at the very least take care of myself. My race already wasn't known for good looks but Mother and Father always looked nice, so perhaps I'll grow up to look a little like them.

The sword makes me look like an adventurer. I take it off my back and hold it in both hands. Right now, it's oversized and unwieldy even if I'm holding it in both hands. Curious about how it feels I hold it out and do a practice swing. The weight of the sword knocks me off balance and a stumble then fall onto my side.

"Are you alright?" said Naofumi in a confused but mostly concerned tone.

I stand back up and return my sword to my back. "Yes, I was trying out the sword but… it's too big for me."

I also have no knowledge of techniques of wielding a sword. Maybe I can ask some adventurers. I've seen a few of them stop in town every now and again. They were always going on a quest in another area and were only passing through. Usually, when we had problems with monsters Sadeena would deal with it. I remember Keel saying he wanted to be like them when he grew up. I never realized how cool they looked.

I should still probably get ready. I'm getting too distracted.

Naofumi was already about to leave the room and judging by my ears it sounds like the other heroes are already in the common area.

I follow him out and Itsuki and Motoyasu were already there. Talking about some of the games they played in their worlds and what they were like. They stopped when they noticed us leaving our room.

"So how was last night." said Itsuki with a smug look on his face.

"It was nice." I responded.

Naofumi's face went bright red. Did I say something to embarrass him.

"She was having nightmares and she asked me to stay to comfort her, that's all!" Naofumi sounded very embarrassed.

It seemed like itsuki was only teasing Naofumi.

I hear a knock on the door followed by a voice. "Heroes, the king is ready."

Good thing we got up in time. I wonder who will be in my party. I hope they're nice.

They lead us back into the throne room where several people are standing. They range from looking like knights to some looking more like mages. The king sends them to let them choose their own parties to join. Naofumi seems a bit surprised by this. I'm just wondering who I'll get.

When everything is done Naofumi and I don't have any party members.

Why don't they want to pick me? I feel myself about to cry and my ears wilt. I think back to what my parents told me. If I start crying now, I won't be able to stop. So I decided to just go with it.

Naofumi on the other hand is protesting. Asking for Motoyasu and Itsuki to give him some party members. But one girl on Motoyasu's team decides to join Naofumi. She seems a little strange. When she was up in the line of adventurers she was giving me mean looks.

Before we leave I'm given 600 silver. That's a lot of money. I remember one time we were in the big town and I found a silver coin. They let me keep it but were really careful on what I spent it on. I could get a lot with just one. But weapons and such are probably really expensive.

We leave the castle out into town. Not knowing the area I decided to ask Naofumi if I can follow him until we leave town.

"Naofumi?"

"Yes?"

"Can I follow you until we leave town?"

"Of course you can. It's not like we'll be leveling in town."

"Thank you!"

He is really a nice person. But I don't want to upset him if I seem to be following him around too much. I definitely don't want to get in his way.

Naofumi's companion leads him to a weapon shop. The owner is a muscular bald man but he seems to be nice. For right now, I'll test out the weapon copy. I pick out a sword that was more my size. It seems really sharp. I grab the handle with one of my hands and focus. A message pops up on my status screen saying "weapon copy system activated". "It worked!" I check the armory menu and see that it's there. It's a magic silver shortsword. It has really high attack so I switch to it.

"What worked?!" I hear the shopkeeper shout.

The shop keeper while he was looking at Naofumi seems to have forgotten I was here. But hearing me say something about the weapon copy probably reminded him.

He looks at me and the sword I'm holding and holds his hand to his head. Naofumi is also giving me a weird look.

"Don't tell me. Is that little girl one of the legendary heroes?" He seems a pretty confused and a little angry.

"That's also basically stealing."

Hearing his accusation I hold my head low. "I'm sorry, I'll pay for it you want." I said timidly.

"It's alright, just let me know in the future when you do that." he seems to have calmed down.

"I never expected one of the legendary heroes to be a demi-human. Nonetheless a child." the shopkeeper has seems to have calmed down.

"Raphtalia, how did you do that?!" Naofumi seems rather impressed by what I did.

"It's called weapon copy. Don't you see it in the help menu?"

"There it is!" He grabs one of the cooler shields and copies it with a big smile on my face.

"Wait, cut that out, that shield is rare!" the shopkeeper exclaims.

Making Naofumi this happy brought a smile to my face. I even start laughing. Has it really been this long since I could laugh? I hope being a hero is like this all the time. I feel tears come to my eyes as I remainis back on the fun times I had in my village. I'm friends with the shield hero now. Only if Rifana could be here to enjoy this.

Before I leave I ask if he knows anything about using a sword. I learned he was a former adventurer and he was glad to show me the basics. They were simple movements, but I was certain they would take me a long way.

After all the fun at the weapon shop, I realized a problem. None of the armor that they have will fit me. I'm too small. But I did copy a few other weapons. Of course, I had to pay for them first but he gave me a discount because I wasn't actually taking them. He also said I was cute. The magic silver shortsword, is by far the best weapon I got. I remembered in the stories of the heroes there was some sort of hourglass I needed to visit to see how much time until the next wave.

Thinking of the wave made me a bit uneasy. My light headedness has gotten worse as well and I'm starting to get an itch in my throat. I can still keep going.

I ask where someone in town where the dragon hourglass is and they reluctantly told me it was in the church. I guess it was a little strange for a young girl to ask for something like that. When I enter I noticed quite a few people giving me strange looks. But they lead me into the room. The hourglass is huge and ornate. But pretty wouldn't be the word to describe it. Impressive works but I think ominous make the most sense. Inside is Itsuki and Motoyasu with their parties.

They both greet me as I approach the hourglass. When I get close a beam shoots out of the gem in my sword and meets one in the hourglass. A timer appears in my vision. 30 days until another disaster like that one. But this time we have the heroes. I know we can stop it from being nearly as bad as the last one.

"So, Raphtalia, where are you going next." Motoyasu asks.

I turn to face him and walk in his direction.

"Because you probably don't know how your weapon works, I thought I would give you some tips."

He goes on to describe that I can use something called monster drops and other items to imbue my weapon to make it stronger. That's weird, I didn't see it in my help screen but he's a hero he must be telling the truth. I should probably give it another look. I check the help screen and surely enough it's right there.

"Stop feeding her lies Motoyasu, it's not funny!" itsuki shouts.

"Why would I ever lie to a child!"Motoyasu angrily shouts back.

"That's not how it works. The legendary weapons are stronger based on weapon rarity and can increase them with ores."

Their yelling is scaring me. Why are they arguing? Did I do something wrong? I hold my head low and my ears flatten.

"Great job, now you're scaring her Itsuki!" Motoyasu continues.

"You're obviously the one scaring her with all of your yelling!"

Their parties seemed a little confused by what was going on. But I didn't want to stay here if me being here would only cause the other heroes to fight. I run out of the room as fast as possible.

As I'm leaving I here Motoyasu shout "Raphtalia wait, I'm sorry!"

It doesn't matter now. I should go out of town so I can go to gain levels. I can calm down out there. There are a few low level adventurers out fighting balloons. I've seen a few before by my village but Sadeena would always easily get rid of them. They were still scary but I can't save Rifana if I'm scared.

3 balloons jump at me and I hold out my sword like I saw the adventurers doing. One tries to bite my arm but I step out of the way. Then I bring my sword down on top of it. My sword is really sharp and it easily pops the balloon. But I stumble forward from my swing and another balloon jumps at my face. I duck down and it passes over my head. It bounces back at me and I cut it with a horizontal slice. The third one is also bouncing at me but misses. I point the tip of my sword at it and thrust my sword forward.

"I did it!" I chear. My experience level raised. This is kinda fun too.

I pick up the pieces of the balloons and my sword reacts. I put it close to the gem and it gets sucked up. It looks really cool. A message appears in my vision.

Balloon sword conditions met.

Cool. I open the tree and there it is. It's not nearly as strong as my magic silver shortsword. But it's really cool. I change my sword to its new form and… it's something. The entire sword is inflated and is made out of a folded balloon. It's something like what my parents gave me after a festival I've been to before. But that was a little cat not a sword. I think Keel got a sword though.

I continued fighting balloons until I got tired. A bunch of adventurers were watching me fight now. They looked kinda amused by watching me. I had a few close calls but a mangage to get off unscaved. I made it to 7th level after today.

One thing is for certain. I'm hungry. I was hungry this morning because I wasn't being fed well by my previous master but I'm really hungry after fighting all day. I also feel a bit dizzy and have been coughing. I'm getting a little worried I'm getting sick.

I found an inn and it so happens Naofumi and the other heroes are staying here. Speaking of I remember Itsuki saying something about ores and weapon rarity when he was arguing with Motoyasu. I should probably check the help screen. I scroll through it for a while and surely enough there it is.

"Hey Raphtalia come sit with us." said Naofumi.

Him and his one party member is sitting across from each other. I climb up and sit next to him. After a while the waiter asks me for my order. I'm growing so I need to eat a lot. Besides I'm hungry. So I order one of the daily specials and Naofumi offers to pay. I let him because it would be rude to turn him down.

While I'm waiting, his companion gives me several mean looks. But I ignore them and lean over and rested my head on his side. He seemed surprised but didn't really seem to mind. But his companion kept acting weird. Insisting that Naofumi drink when he clearly didn't want to.

Eventually my food arrived. I was so excited I almost forgot my manners and started digging in with my hands. I still however eat quickly and am nice and filled. At least for now. After I finish I once again rest my head on Naofumi and ignore everything else. After a little he even starts petting my ears. It's comfortable. I want to stay like this, but I still have to go to bed.

After Naofumi gets up I go into my room and lie down on the bed. It's not as comfortable as the ones in the castle but it's still very nice. I'm really feeling exhausted now. I've been coughing a lot too and i've been starting have a cold sweat.

I eventually fall asleep but end up having another nightmare similar to the one last night with no notable differences.

I wake up to knocking on my door. It's one of the guards asking me to go to the castle. Did I do something wrong? It might be a thing for all of the heroes. But I feel horrible. My head is pounding and it's a little difficult to breath. But this sounds important I should definitely go.

I quickly get ready and the guards escort me to the castle. Whatever this is it seems really important. I really want to rest. But I need to find out what this is first.

Entering the throne room I see a strange scene. Naofumi's companion is holding... Motoyasu? Is she crying? What's going on? I see people shouting but… I can't think. My body feels so weak. I can't hold myself up. Everything went blank.

I woke up in what was apparently a hospital bed. Eventually a nurse walks in and notices I'm awake. I feel a lot better. But one question plagues my mind. What happened? I should ask.

":What happened?"

"Apparently you had gotten a severe fever. Good thing we caught it early enough. You will need to take medicine for a while, but don't worry the crown has already paid for all of that."

"Where is Naofumi!" I asked mostly to myself but when the nurse heard what I asked she looked disgusted.

"The shield hero… is a criminal. He committed a terrible crime against the kingdom."

"What did he do, please tell me!"

"He… forced himself on his companion. He really is a devil."

"Naofumi would never do something like that! He's the shield hero!"

"You'd best just forget that monster…"

Naofumi wouldn't do something like that, he's really nice. If he really did wouldn't have done that to me when I shared a bed with him. I'm feeling well enough now. I need to find him! I get myself ready to leave and set out into the fields to level up again. With any luck I'll find Naofumi out there.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes: Sorry for the shortened chapter. I didn't want this one to drag on too long and it didn't have much to covor. Next chapter there will be a bit of a time skip. I didn't want to overload this chapter with level grinding and shopping. Next chapter should be coming out soon.**

"Sword hero please take these once per day, when they're gone you should be all better" said the nurse as she hands me several bottles of medicine.

"The spear and bow heroes dropped by for a visit earlier." she continued "they left a few items over here. It came with a note from each."

That was really nice of them. They probably had one of their party members write the note because it was in my language. The first one is from Itsuki. It's a bag with several odds and ends. The note is giving details on what they are and what they do. A lot of these are really rare. He probably bought them for me. Apparently I should absorb them into my sword. Several new swords were unlocked but I can't use any yet because my level is too low.

Motoyasu left more stuff for me to upgrade my sword. A lot of it I recognize as the same stuff itsuki gave me but a few things were different. Like itsuki gave a lot of ores. I guess now is a good time to test out how their enhancement methods work.

I discovered I can store stuff in my sword. This should help me carry my medicine around. The nurse leaves the room and I absorb the bottles of medicine. I apply the enhancement methods to my sword and then I leave the room.

I'm out in the field fighting monsters and looking for Naofumi. He couldn't have gotten that far, but if I spend too much time looking for him I won't be able to get to Rifana in time. I shouldn't think like that… I need to save Rifana, she only has a little time left. I need to start finding my way to her, but I don't even know the name of the town.

There are woods near town. I might be able to find something useful. Sure enough after a little while of searching I find some new monsters. These look like mushrooms they were still quite easy to defeat.

As I'm walking through the woods I hear a sound coming from behind me in some bushes. An Usapil jumps out and attacks me. I dodge off to the side before it can bite me. I'm scared… I don't know if I can fight it. If I attack it it'll bleed, it's alive.

It jumps at me again and I block it with the flat side of my sword. The force knocks me onto the ground. If I don't fight it there is no way I can fight the waves, there is no way I can save Rifana. I feel a wave of determination wash over me after those thoughts race through my head.

The usapil jumps at me again but this time I stab it through. Blood splatters all over me. Who knows how much more I'll need to fight monsters like this. I know I won't be able to save Rifana if I don't. So no matter what I need to keep going. For her, and for all of my friends who were captured.

I found a river in the woods so I decided to take the opportunity to take a bath. I haven't been able to take one in awhile but this is a good opportunity. After I'm finished I start thinking about my plans. I remember hearing the name of the noble who owned me and Rifana from one of the guards. All I need to do is find out the town he gonverns to find Rifana. I'll probably see Naofumi again at the wave anyways. I'm scared of being alone, but if I can do this I won't be anymore. I can get everyone back. I can rebuild my village with all of my friends.

Now is a good time to start making my way back to town, I made it to level 10. Tomorrow I can start my journey to save Rifana. I'll need to pack a lot of food if I'm going to be leveling. It's a little hard to think of anything but food right now. After today's leveling I'm starving.

After eating, I start to settle in while making my plans. To start, what I learned is the town Rifana is in is about 1 weeks travel away. I could probably hire rides to make my way there to cut down on time. I will also need to get some medicine for Rifana. I hope Naofumi will do alright. Right now getting to Rifana is my priority. Then we can finally go back home and see our flag again.

I lie down on the bed and close my eyes. I can't believe I'll finally be able to go home. That night with the hopes for the future in my mind there was no room for the shadows of the past.

Omake chapter: sleepover

My mom and dad needed to go out of town for the night, so they let me spend the night and Rifana's house. I finished packing my things and walked over. They don't live very far away.

I start feeling nervous as I walk up to the door. I knock on the door and Rifana and her parents greet me at the door. "Hello Raphtalia, come right in." I walk in and close the door behind me.

"Dinner will be ready shortly."

"Comeon Raphtalia, let's play hide and seek!" Rifana says with excitement.

"Yeah!"

I sit down on one of the chairs and Rifana starts counting. I look around for a good hiding spot. I walk up the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. under Rifana's bed would be the last place she would look. The squeeze is a little tight but I can still wiggle my way under.

"Ready or not, here I come" I hear Rifana from downstairs. I hear her start moving up the stairs. "I know you're up here!"

She checks a couple of other rooms and eventually enters her's.

"Found you!"

I crawl out of my hiding spot. "how did you find me so fast!?"

"Your tail was poking out from under the bed."

It betrayed me, it's supposed to be part of me and it gave me away. I can't help but start laughing. Rifana joins me. "Dinner's ready" her mother calls out. We both walk downstairs.

Her mother's cooking was always very different from what I'm used to. Rifana and I sit down and enjoy our food.

I get to stay in Rifana's room tonight. She has lots of books for us to read. She always loved the stories of the 4 cardinal heroes. We both always wanted to meet one.

As we're getting ready to go to bed Rifana asks me "which hero would you want to be?"

"I never really thought about it. That's probably something the boys think of more."

"Sorry for asking such a silly question… I don't even know for myself. All the heroes are from another world anyways."

"Goodnight Rifana."

"Goodnight Raphtalia."


	4. Chapter 4

It's been about 5 days since I set out. Travelling alone has taken its toll on me. It's been hard to sleep knowing what Rifana will need to endure. But, I'm getting close. Only maybe one or more days now.

In my travels I've made it to level 20 and am now fully grown. I also picked up a magic tome from a magic shop in a town I passed. It was expensive, but worth it. I've been studying and have learned a few of the simple illusion spells. I also got access to a few of the weapons Motoyasu and Itsuki told me about.

There should be a demi-human friendly territory nearby. As I keep walking I notice a few farmers working their fields. Sure enough they're demi-humans. Soon enough I finally see town. It's pretty small, but they should be willing to help me.

"Hello sword hero."

I snap my attention to where I heard the voice. Standing there is a man with long black hair and white robes. Giving him a scholarly appearance.

"My apologies, I didn't mean to startle you." he continues.

"Pardon me, but who are you?"

"I'm the lord of this region, my name is Van Reichnott, It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance."

"My name is Raphtalia."

"I heard you were passing through and thought I'd personally invite you to stay at my mansion."

It is getting late and being able to stay in an actual bed, but I can't help but think this is a little fishy. But, with all the demi-humans around chances are that he is only trying to help.

"I guess it's fine it is getting rather late."

He leads me through the small town up towards a large house. We enter a dining room and take our seats. Almost immediately a pair of maids enter carrying food. It seemed like he was expecting me to come with him.

The food looked amazing, much better than anything I had on the road. I shouldn't let down my guard. Luckily I got a poison detection skill and it isn't going off. I pick up the fork and put a bit in my mouth. It's really good.

"I find it strange to see that you're a demi-human. All of the stories of the past heroes have been said to be human." said Van

I finish chewing so I can give my answer. "I'm actually from this world. I understand it's strange. Ever since I was summoned I've been asking myself 'why'".

"I see, Where were you when you were summoned?"

That question hit me hard. I would rather not think of the things that were done to me. That were done to Rifana. They seemed distant, but it was only a few days ago.

Van seemed to recognize my body language. My tail wasn't helping matters. It was standing out on end with all of the fur puffed up. This feeling wasn't fear, no it was something different, something I've never felt before. Hate, it felt like a burning desire to destroy. That man… this world would be better off without him. I finally decided to speak.

"I was locked in the basement of a nearby noble mansion. They… tortured me. My best friend is still there. I don't even want to know what happened after I was summoned." I began speaking faster and more frantically as tears start streaming from my eyes. "I can't just sit here. I'm a hero I need to do something, but I don't even feel like I should be one." I start breathing harder and harder. I hear his calm voice speak.

"You've seen too much for anyone. To have made it this far you must be strong so please take some time to collect yourself." one of the servants guides me to a room. My eyes are still filled with tears.

When I get to the room I throw myself down onto the bed planting my face into one of the pillows and continue crying.

I don't feel like deserve anything. From the freedom I was granted or the responsibility of being a hero. It feels like a dream i've yet to wake up from. This is not a dream though. This is my world. I need to find my way of being the best hero possible. I need to grow stronger. I can fight the waves and stop everything that happened to me from happening to anyone else. I don't know if I can do it. I'm too weak. Look at me I was nothing but a starving slave not even a week ago. How could someone like me make a difference. I'm useless.

I continue crying is silence until I finally drift into sleep. But it's not sound. The nightmares of my failure to be able to help anyone back home plague my sleep and I wake up exhausted.

Today I will get her back, I won't fail again. I've come this far and it better not be for nothing.

Lord Van was kind enough to give me breakfast before I left. My goal is in reach I should be able to make it by dark.

I arrive at the territory of my enemy and immediately images flood my mind. Of me being taken away from my home. Of being separated from my friends… I can't allow him to do this to anyone else I'm here to face my past. Once I get Rifana out of here I will get to introduce her to Naofumi and show her how nice he is.

I approach the gate and the guards stop me. "State your purpose filth." it seems like the entire town holds a similar belief to their lord. Well it's as good a time as any to tell them the usual.

"I am an adventurer who is passing through on a quest. I am simply stopping by for supplies."

"Understood." I am allowed into the city. It's around noon and I'm making my way to the mansion. The entire city despite it being broad daylight everything is quiet. The streets are empty for the most part. I should stay aware. I have no idea if anyone will try to jump me.

As I approach the mansion more images flow through my head. But they only serve as a reminder of my goal. I keep pushing forward. Nothing will stop me.

"As the sword hero I am the source of all power. Heed my commands and obey. Cloud there sight. First cloaking."

It's a strange spell I picked up supposedly it makes me harder to notice and I sort of blend into the background. With my spell cast I switch to one of the swords I acquired, The rope sword. It is shaped like a blade with a rope tied around it. It has a special ability that allows me to throw it and climb it like a grappling hook.

I throw my sword and it hits the wall near the top and climb up the rope and over what remains of the wall. I now can see the courtyard with the stairs leading to the basement. This is it, now is my chance.

I use the rope sword to repel down the wall like we used to do with the cliffs back in my village and make a dash for the stairs. I'm here to save everyone. I am a hero now. Even if I don't feel like I should be this is the best thing I can do.

"Cough" my ears twitch at the sound and turn. There she is, Rifana I finally found her.

"Rifana!"

"Who are you. How do you know my name." she says quietly.

"It's me Raphtalia! I've finally made it!"

"No it can't be. Raphtalia is gone." she disappeared a few days ago.

I know a way I can prove it to her. I use my sword and slice through the lock. Rifana flinches and weakly tries to move away. I reach down into the same patch of straw and pull out the little flag I made for her.

"Let's go back home to our village Rifana. You're safe now." I say with a warm smile on my face. I feel my eyes fill with tears as Rifana begins crying.

"I-I thought I would never get to see you again and look at you. You're so pretty now." she said before starting to cough again.

Her coughing reminds me of the expensive medicine I bought for her and pull it out of my sword and hand it to her. "This is medicine. You should drink it." hearing that she quickly downs the bottle with no complaints.

"Let's go get the others. Rifana." I say as I grab her hand.

She remains in place for a second then starts to speak. "I'm the only one left… after you disappeared. He… he murdered them."

My stomach drops upon hearing her words.

"He thought you had escaped and took his anger out on them. I can't tell if I was lucky or not that he forgot I was here."

I grip Rifana's hand tighter. With my sword in the other hand and start walking to the exit.

When we reach the top of the stairs we are met with a face I wish I'd never see again.

"So it looks like you came crawling back to me. I knew something was up as soon as that little rat left her cell" The fat noble says as he points to Rifana.. I refuse to even think of his name all I know is he won't let us by so easily.

"Unfortunately I didn't have a choice to bring someone with me." I say keeping my head lowered and remaining alert.

He holds out his holy symbol of the church of the three heroes with one hand and reaches for his sword with the other.

"In the name of god I shall smite you."

I notice a slight bit of irony that his is trying to kill me in my own name.

He quickly swings in and I push rifana off to the side. I change my sword to it's magic silver longsword form I got back at the capital then parry.

"I won't let you hurt anyone else. I was summoned as the sword hero to protect the people of this world."

He jumps back in shock at the change of my sword. I won't let this opportunity slip past me. I raise my sword to the sky and as I bring it down shout "hurricane slash" and blade of wind flies out of my sword and impacts him. He staggers back and I use the opportunity to rush forwards. I swing upwards and knock the sword out of his hand.

"I will bring everything back. My village is still there and as long as there are people there to rebuild we will not be stopped."

He starts laughing in his scratchy voice. "Your village was burnt to the ground, raiders came in a few days later and took everything."

He can't be right he has to be wrong.

"You also said as long as you had somebody." I notice his status screen appear in his vision. No! I forgot something very important. But before I have time to think it's too late, a purple glow radiates from where Rifana was sitting.

My vision goes dark and I reminisce on all the good times rifana and I had together. She was always very innocent how could he deliver a fate like this. How could this world take so much from me. My parents, my home, and now my friends all taken away. This whole world should disappear. If it wants to take everything and everyone I love I won't let it exist.

Red text comes over my vision saying "sword of rage conditions met" I switch to this newly acquired weapon and run forward. A shadowy figure swings a whip towards me and wraps around my sword, however it only burns away in the dark flames. I continue to make my way forwards and stab through the shadowy figure. Flames erupt from the stab wound and turn him to ash.

As the ash falls to the ground I hear a cough. I turn around and all the darkness blows away. Rifana is lying there but she's fine now. She can't be taken away from me anymore.

She manages to whisper "you're… the sword hero?" before going unconscious. I switch back to my rope sword cast my spell on myself and Rifana and quickly leave town. I make my way back to Lord Van's village just before it gets dark.


End file.
